Baby Merc is a heavy hitter with their new A-class

Tuesday, 4 September 2018

**MERCEDES-BENZ A200

The A200's chiseled new look is more traditional hatch, but also more traditional Mercedes as well.

Base price:** $60,900

Powertrain and performance: 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol, 120kW/250Nm, 7-speed automatic, FWD, Combined economy 5.7 litres per 100km.

Vital statistics: 4419mm long, 1440mm high, 2729mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 370 litres, 18-inch alloy wheels with 225/45 tyres.

Any hints of the mini-MPV looks of the first A-class are long gone now.

We like: Superb interior. Packs E-class tech and luxury into a small package. Super user-friendly thanks to new tech.

We don't like: Minimal rear leg room. Steering lacks feel. Keyless entry not standard on a $60k car.

The A-class has always been a gateway drug for Mercedes-Benz - its purpose being to bring new punters into the brand and then get them hooked. But it hasn't really been that convincing a representative of what a 'proper' Mercedes is, but the all-new version looks to change that.

So this a 'proper' Mercedes then? What actually is that anyway?

A proper Mercedes-Benz is a pleasingly effortless blend of luxury and technology that you expect from a prestige brand and the old A-class never quite nailed this.

The A-class gets an impressive new interior that is easily the best in its segment.

But this time round, Mercedes have made a concerted effort to crank up the luxury and comfort of the new A-class, but also jam in some serious technology and, largely, they have succeeded.

* Are you ready for electric Mercedes-AMG vehicles?

* Five carmakers using Mercedes-Benz bits**

The A200 you see here is currently the only model available in New Zealand and it lands at a fairly hefty $60,990 asking price. Yes, that's right; $60k for a small Corolla-sized car (actually, it's a bit smaller than a Corolla).

But wait! There's more: our test car was fitted with close to $12,000 worth of options, taking it to an excitingly expensive $72,440.

$72k for a small car? Are they having a laugh?

While I would certainly agree that $72k is a remarkable amount of money for a small 1.3-litre car, I would also point out that all of its direct competitors are priced similarly and, with the A200, you do get quite a remarkable amount of small car for that money.

Our optioned-up A200 was essentially an E-class jammed into an A-class body.

The digital dash gives the A200 a hint of E-class and more than a hint of tech.

The standard car gets the fantastic twin 10-inch digital displays (with the central one being a touch screen) in place of a traditional instrument cluster and a superbly high quality interior that introduces not only a new design for the steering column-mounted stalks (that's a big thing in Mercedes-world) for lights and transmission, but also Mercedes' new MBUX infotainment system that features built-in navigation, a voice assistant and AI learning ability.

The options on our car added things like heated and ventilated seats, adaptive LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof, adaptive damping, a 360 degree parking camera and the thoroughly fantastic 64 colour LED ambient lighting system among many other things.

And it is that level of useful stuff and frivolous (but awesome) features that elevate the A200 to E-class levels of interior ambience and quality.

So does it feel like an E-class on the road then?

Of course not, don't be silly.

It does, unsurprisingly, feel like a small car on the road, with a nicely nimble and agile chassis backed up by an impressively comfortable ride.

Body roll is extremely well reined in, despite the comfortable ride and the A200 does flow nicely through corners like a larger car, but always feels pleasantly compact and responsive, like the smaller car it is.

It looks a bit generic from the rear, but the rest of the A200 is distinctively a Mercedes.

The steering is has very artificial weighting and lacks feel though, and is easily the worst part of the A200's dynamics, but is still nicely sharp and responsive, with the car eager to turn in.

The new 1.3-litre turbo petrol engine is an eager, revvy little unit that feels punchy around town and nicely flexible out on the open road. It does lack a little in the power department when compared to its direct European rivals, but is a pleasant enough thing nonetheless.

Most important question: 64 colour interior lights? Can you make it look like a Tokyo night club?

Oh yes, you certainly can.

The ambient lighting system can make the superbly styled and beautifully put together interior of the A200 everything from subtle and classy through to a garish neon cyberpunk sex dungeon.

Able to be animated and cycle through a variety of colours, the ambient lighting was part of the remarkable amount of tech extras packed into our test car.

But the standard A200 is pretty high tech as well, with same brilliantly intuitive system of touch surfaces on the steering wheel that the S-class gets, as well as a new touch pad in the centre console.

The MBUX infotainment system is incredibly complex, but largely intuitive to use and, when you get the hang of it, is remarkably flexible and powerful.

The voice assistant system (think Apple's Siri, but it actually works) is surprisingly useful, but is annoyingly vague when it can't do something. Rather than saying 'I can't do that' it simply asks what you want again, leaving you unsure if it can't do it or hasn't understood you.

Generally though, the technology works impressively well, again adding to the A200's general air of being a proper premium Mercedes-Benz.

Any other cars I should consider?

The obvious ones are the other Germans.

BMW's $59,700 125i five-door lands at pretty much the same price, but is an older car now and has nowhere near as nice an interior. It does, however, offer considerably more power (165kW/310Nm) and is RWD…

The Audi A3 2.0 TFSI lands at $63,400 with similar equipment and more power (140kW/320Nm), while for slightly less than our optioned-up A200 you could also go for the $69,900 A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid.

Lexus offers a Japanese alternative in the form of the CT200h F Sport for $62,690, but while it has a beautiful and comfortable interior, is rather old-tech in comparison and is still a Prius in drag.

Or for an alternative completely out of left field, for the same price as our high-tech specced-up test car you could buy the mental Ford Focus RS for $72,990.

Not that anyone would be seriously cross-shopping the two, but still…